We did it!

Thank you! As of 2.30 am on Friday morning I am now Rupa Huq MP, the result of a massive team effort. Many thanks to all our magnificent volunteers.

It is an honour and privilege to represent Ealing Central and Acton my hometown for 40+ years, now as your MP. I pledge to work had for all the constituency, whether they voted for me or not.

Here's the moment it happened - click below to watch the declaration:

I will continue to fight for a strong NHS, a better deal for renters, more home building to get people on the housing ladder and a fairer society even though we did not get the government we wanted.

Here's my acceptance speech in full:-

It’s an honour and a privilege to stand before you as Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, the seat I grew up in and was schooled in.

I firstly want to thank Martin Smith, the returning officer, council workers, police and volunteers for their hard work.

I thank my fellow candidates from other parties who fought hard, sometimes literally, and ran a strong campaign.

Here in Ealing, Acton, Chiswick and bits of NW10 we know what it means to fight hard, and this has certainly been a hard-fought battle. We have sent a clear message that you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS and we will not stand for our A&E provision being slashed to ribbons with no mandate.

And it’s a victory that has been won not just by me, but by the many thousands who have put their trust in me. Above all I want to thank the people of this incredible constituency – these streets made me who I am and its super-diverse communities are a model of 21st century London. This the birthplace of the garden suburb movement and of cooperative housing.

I want to thank my brilliant campaign team, my agent, and all the volunteers and activists who made this possible. And my family and friends for their love and support. It’s been like my whole life flashing past me... my mum’s friends from swinging Ealing of the sixties, my own teachers from the 70s and 80s who I never even knew had first names.

I’ve knocked on thousands of doors in this campaign, seeing many new faces as well as things that I’ve never seen before in Ealing: the foodbank, Ealing soup kitchen, Ealing churches night-shelter, Ealing Samaritans – who all report an unprecedented take up of their services. In Ealing, queen of the suburbs, in 2015, this can’t be right.

And I’m deeply proud and humbled that today I represent you as your Member of Parliament. Thank you for your decision to choose me as your MP. And thank you to the progressive majority in this seat that has united to defeat the Tories.

I promise to represent all of you and to listen to what all of you have to say, whether you voted for me or not.

As your MP, I will fight for the NHS, to deliver affordable housing and to create new jobs - while at all times preserving and protecting Ealing, Acton and Chiswick’s quintessential suburban character.

I am honoured to have seen some of Ealing’s great history over the last 43 years. Now I will fight to make sure that Ealing has a great future.